Nash opened his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘If I’d succeeded in killing myself, I wouldn’t have had to lie,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to go to prison but I also don’t want anyone to think that I did nothing to try and save Charlotte.’

‘Then make us believe that, Mr Nash. Tell us what really happened.’

After a long pause, Nash said, ‘The truth is that although I fell down the steps, I didn’t lose consciousness. It took me less than a minute to get inside the house and when I did Robert was screaming at Mary and telling her it was her fault that Charlotte was dead. And Mary was blaming Charlotte and saying to Robert that they would have to hide the body and cover up what had happened. They were thrown when I stormed in and both started yelling at me. I told them I’d heard everything that was said and that was when I saw Robert move towards the shotgun on the breakfast bar. But I beat him to it. Without thinking what I was doing I shoved the barrel up against his throat, told him what I thought of him, and pulled the trigger. Mary screamed, but didn’t move, so I just turned the gun on her and shot her as well. They both deserved it. They had to pay for what they’d done. To Amanda and Simon. To their baby. And to Charlotte. My Charlotte. We were meant to grow old together. And they took that away from me.’

‘And what happened next?’ James asked quietly.

Nash cleared his throat and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. ‘I did to them what I heard them say they did to the Roths. I wiped my prints from the gun, and placed it in Robert’s hand. Then I gave Charlotte one last kiss goodbye and got out of there as quickly as I could. Over the next couple of days, I started thinking about ending my own life, but for some reason I couldn’t do it.’

Nash started to cry then and so James ended the interview and called the doctor. He told her that her patient might need some medication and that extra precautions would have to be taken because he was now even more of a suicide risk.

By coincidence, Nash’s parents turned up just as they left the room and so it fell to James to explain to them that their son was going to be charged with two murders and that they wouldn’t be able to speak to him just yet.

‘William has confessed to what he did,’ James said. ‘So, I suggest you arrange for a lawyer to represent him.’

On the way back to the station James sent a group email to the team. It consisted of just two words.

Case solved.

EPILOGUE

EIGHT WEEKS LATER